The Role of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy in Medicine: Addressing the Psychological and Physical Symptoms Stemming from Adverse Life Experiences

Trauma trials2

29 randomized trials had tested EMDR for trauma; leaving out 4 judged too weak in dose or fidelity, 24 of the remaining 25 supported it.

Against CBT2

Seven of 10 trials found EMDR faster or otherwise better than CBT; one found CBT better on some measures.

The eye movements1

Twelve randomized studies found eye movements quickly reduce negative emotion or the vividness of disturbing images; 8 more found other memory effects.

Not only trauma2

Two trials treated distressing events that fall short of PTSD criteria; one reported 84% remission of PTSD diagnosis after 3 sessions (d = 1.69).

Unprocessed memories2

Except for organic causes, the primary foundations of mental disorders are proposed to be memories stored with their original emotions, sensations and beliefs.

No homework2

Trauma-focused CBT needs one to two hours of daily homework; EMDR uses none, so it can be given on consecutive days.

Reconsolidation, not extinction2

Shapiro suggests long exposure works by extinction, which leaves the old memory in place, while EMDR’s brief exposures trigger memory reconsolidation.

The ACE Study2

A Kaiser Permanente study of over 17,000 adults linked childhood abuse and household dysfunction to risk factors for leading causes of death.

After a heart attack2

In a trial with PTSD after a life-threatening cardiac event, eight EMDR sessions reduced symptoms, depression and anxiety more than imaginal exposure.

Grief2

In a nonrandomized study of bereaved families, EMDR needed fewer sessions than CBT (6.2 vs 10.7) and doubled positive memories of the dead person.

Phantom limb pain2

Four published evaluations reported pain eliminated or substantially reduced in an aggregate 80% of patients.

An earthquake that was not the whole story2

A session transcript for PTSD after an earthquake shows memories of household dysfunction surfacing underneath the recent event.

Allegiance3

Meta-analyses describe a high risk of allegiance bias in EMDR studies, and this review is by the therapy's founder.

The eye movements again3

Most meta-analyses find adding eye movements makes little or no difference to the effect of EMDR.

Lee and Cuijpers (2013)

The meta-analysis of eye movements that this paper cites, with the numbers.

EMDR therapy textbook

The full clinical text behind the summary given here.

Memory reconsolidation

The memory mechanism Shapiro proposes for EMDR.